III. There are several laws that protect American business from the unauthorized use of it's products, services and trademarks. One of the most influential laws concerning trademark protection is the Lanham Trademark Act of 1946. Congressman Fritz Lanham of Texas recognized the necessity for the bill and actively persuaded Congress for such a bill to be passed. On July 5, 1946, the bill was approved by Congress and was made law by Harry S. Truman (International Trademark Association, 1999).

The Lanham Act protects intellectual property in the several ways. It prohibits any "...reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or colorable imitation of a registered mark in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of any goods or services on or in connection with such use is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive..." (Meincke, 1999). The act legally identifies two types of marks that are protected under this act. These protected marks are trademarks and service marks (Meincke, 1999). A trademar

An example of a logo that enjoys a strong degree of brand loyalty is Goodyear Tire. This logo was one of the first trademarks registered and protected under the Lanham Act of 1946 (International Trademark Association, 1999). The company's logo is the name Goodyear, with the words Good and Year separated by the winged foot of the Greek God Mercury. The logo transfers the idea of speed and "God like" perfection onto their tire products. Without the protection of the Lanham Act, other tire companies would have used the same, or similar, logos to ride on the success of Goodyear. The Lanham Act provides trademark protection, and is vital to the survival of the Goodyear Tire Corporation by protecting the identifying mark that most consumers identify it with and make their purchase decisions by.

"Virgin" service mark to distinguish it's services from other airline services.

Troy, G. E. R. (1999). What is Intellectual Property Law? [On-line] Available: www.datatech.com/hot/f96_3.htm

Legal Information Institute. (1999). LII: Law About...Patents. [On-line] Available: www.law.cornell.edu/topics/patents.html

International Trademark Association. (1999). The Lanham Act: Alive and Well After 50 Years. [On-line] Available: www.inta.org/lanham.html

There are several protective measures that businesses utilize to protect the intellectual property they create. The Lanham Trademark Act offers Federal protection of a company trademarks. This protection is essential in preserving a company's level of brand awareness. Brand awareness is an essential means for consumers to identify products and services they wish to purchase. Without the Lanham Trademark Act, consumers may mistakenly purchase products or services from companies they otherwise would have avoided.

Copyright laws are also a form of intellectual protection. This law protects mostly written documents including plays, music, art, lectures and computer programs (Legal Information Institute, 1999). Copyright protection, however, does extend to cover ideas, processes, facts, procedures, concepts or principles (Mallor, 1995). The documents must be creative, original and fixed (Legal Information Institute, 1999). To be protected, the document does not need to be registered (Mallor, 1995). Registration is necessary only when the owner files a lawsuit a

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